MASKED HYSTERIA

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The illness has killed a fifth and sixth person in Canada and appeared to be spreading throughout the country, health officials said Tuesday.

Ontario health authorities announced the deaths the same day that Canada's health minister acknowledged that little is known about SARS but said proper steps have been taken to confine it, including quarantining thousands of hospital workers.

All the deaths in Canada have occurred in Toronto, where the majority of the nation's 151 probable or suspected cases have occurred. The total announced by the federal health department included 22 more than the previous day, with possible cases for the first time on Prince Edward Island in the east.

The illness was brought to Canada by air travelers from Asia.

In Ontario, the nation's most populous province, authorities have declared a health emergency and restricted access to all hospitals.

Officials say there are 124 probable or suspected cases in Ontario, with others in Vancouver on the west coast, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick province on the east coast.